Malene Benedict
Malene is a Forsaken death knight, and a member of the Knights of the Ebon Blade. She is a dedicated engineer, and while her specialties are creating mechanical parts and repairing and operating vehicles, she can be counted on to have explosives on hand. As a Forsaken warrior, she earned the nickname “Bloody Malene” for her quick but gruesome methods of killing or disarming (often literally). As a death knight, she was known as “the Knacker” for her habit of casually butchering the corpses of unworthy initiates or badly dismembered victims and feeding the flesh to the lesser Scourge and blight hounds. There is some evidence to suggest that she was a paladin in life, although she doesn’t appear to have any interest in recalling anything prior to becoming undead. She is still unquestionably loyal to the Dark Lady. Appearance Malene is little more than a skeleton, and she has reinforced her bones over time with bolts, bars, and leather straps. She wraps any exposed joints in a layer of bandages to muffle the clicking sound of her movements. Most of her face is covered by a pair of heavy goggles, which can soften her otherwise horrific appearance into a more comical effect. She is smaller than average, and rarely moves at less than a brisk jog. Her voice is hollow and rasping. She speaks with an accent, peppering her speech with obscure colloquialisms. Occasionally she drinks from a small flask in her boot, although it’s doubtful that the alcohol has much effect on her, if any. Personality Malene’s upbeat, friendly attitude seems to give the lie to her intimidating physical appearance. She’s eager to be helpful, quick with a joke, and doesn’t take herself particularly seriously. The majority of her time is spent tinkering and being fascinated with anything mechanical, or observing insects (a hobby she enthusiastically admits to wasting too much time on). Prone to chattering at length, she runs off on stereotypical gearhead tangents. In truth, she is just as bloodthirsty and ruthless as any number of other death knights, and as bent on vengeance as most Forsaken. She feels no pity for her opponents, and little empathy for the victimized; she will step in to defend those who cannot defend themselves, but she does so out of a drive to do battle and a natural predisposition toward doing it against evil. Malene’s cheerfulness is similarly due to a lack of negative emotions, rather than the presence of positive ones. Her only fear prior to becoming a death knight was the threat of falling under the Lich King’s control again, and now that the worst is over, she sees no reason to dwell on it. Peripherally, she understands why her comrades are miserable--but that’s them. In many ways, she feels that her existence as a Forsaken has been justified, with every race and nation forced to see former Scourge walking their streets as allies and Sylvanas’ people finally ready to move against Arthas in force. Though she’d never admit to it, the other death knights’ misery only lightens her mood, since she’s sure that quite a few of them were more than happy to condemn the Forsaken while they were alive. She keeps this to herself, however, as she sees no point in alienating people. After all, enough of them will shun her by default, and most of them are quite good company. Affiliations Malene is officially a member of the Knights of the Ebon Blade, however, her primary personal loyalty is to Sylvanas Windrunner and the Forsaken. She is fond of Ethereals, and is usually happy to help the Consortium with anything they might need in her free time. She corresponds with Tieria Flamerule, and sends her extra materials on behalf of their mutual friend in the Consortium. The two of them have never met face to face, and Malene has never mentioned that she’s a death knight, as she’s somewhat nervous that Tieria might decide that she doesn’t like her.